What's Your Brand's Genre?

MUSIC STREAMING

eMusic

53% of US online music consumers have bought music files online.
51% have bought CDs or vinyl albums.
49% stream music online for free.
42% download music files online for free.
But only 13% pay to stream music online.

THOUGHT: People are getting accustomed to the idea of streaming content and the barrier of wanting your music to be tangible in the form of a digital file (however absurd the logic) is going to be overcome.

There’s a reason that the Big Boys of online music, Apple, Amazon and Google are offering cloud storage in addition to streaming. Storage requires something to store, so it feels tangible.

But with the entry of the big three along with Pandora and the new hotness that is Spotify, streaming your music is set to become commonplace next year.

The fact that less than a quarter of online music consumers are willing to pay for ad-free streaming means most people accept the interruption of audio advertising. But that still doesn’t mean they’re going to pay attention to it. It’s still an old school model regardless of it being wrapped in new school technology.

So how can marketers utilize streaming audio audiences?

Well, if you are podcasting, then you should be looking at how to get your content into these channels. With Spotify, it’s pretty easy: You can just create a playlist for your podcast and add episodes as they’re created. Any Spotify user can then subscribe to your playlist but you’ll need to do the work of building your network.

But how about the Pandora model?

Rather than relying on interruption ads, what if brands started hiring musicians to produce their own sponsored music?

I think music is vastly overlooked in the shaping of the perception of your brand. Look at how integral music is to the experience of a brand like Electronic Arts Madden football video game.

Look at how HBO uses music to brand each of its shows. The HBO cop drama The Wire featured one introductory song but utilized five different versions of the Tom Waits song Way Down In The Hole, including Waits own original as well as versions by The Blind Boys Of Alabama and Steve Earle.

So I ask you: Is your brand a bluesman? A metal god? A pop diva? Beethoven?

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Thank you for moments of clarity.